Afghanistan

Upon signature:

... "with reservations related to conciliation as provided in Article 14, paragraph 5 of the Agreement".

Reservation:

“... the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan registers its reservation in relation to Article 18 of the said Protocol.”

Declaration:
".....according to the Decree No. 20 dated 25 May 2003 on the voluntary enrollment to the Afghan National Army, signed by H.E. Hamed Karzi Head of State of Afghanistan, the minimum age for recruitment of Afghan Citizen to an active military service is limited by the age of 22 to 28. All recruitments of personnel in the Afghan National Army is voluntary and is not forced or coerced."

Upon signature:

Declaration:
"The Government of the Republic of Afghanistan reserves the right to express, upon ratifying the Convention, reservations on all provisions of the Convention that are incompatible with the laws of Islamic Shari'a and the local legislation in effect."

Pursuant to article 58 (1), [. . .] Afghanistan will not be bound by the provisions of article 57, paragraphs 2 to 6, of the Convention.

Reservation:

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, while acceding to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, declares that it does not consider itself bound to the provision of the second paragraph of article 31, since this paragraph calls for the submission to the International Court of Justice upon the request of one of the Parties, of differences of opinion that may arise between two or several Parties to the Convention on its interpretation and implementation.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, therefore, declares in this connection that in the event of a conflict of opinion on such cases, the issue at conflict shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice not at the request of one of the sides, but upon the agreement of all Parties concerned.

Since the provisions of articles V and VII of the said Convention, according to which some States cannot become a party to the Convention, are not in conformity with the universal character of the Convention, the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan states that, on the basis of the principle of the sovereign equality of States, the Convention should remain open to all States.

[See chapter IV.3.]

Declaration:

The presiding body of the Revolutionary Council of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan declares that the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 of article 48 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 of article 26 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, according to which some countries cannot join the aforesaid Covenants, contradicts the International character of the aforesaid Treaties. Therefore, according to the equal rights of all States to sovereignty, both Covenants should be left open for the purpose of the participation of all States.

Reservation:

While acceding to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 22 of the Convention since according to this article, in the event of disagreement between two or several States Parties to the Convention on the interpretation and implementation of provisions of the Convention, the matters could be referred to the International Court of Justice upon the request of only one side.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, therefore, states that should any disagreement emerge on the interpretation and implementation of the Convention, the matter will be referred to the International Court of Justice only if all concerned parties agree with that procedure.
Declaration:

Furthermore, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan states that the provisions of articles 17 and 18 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination have a discriminatory nature against some states and therefore are not in conformity with the principle of universality of international treaties.

Declaration:

"Afghanistan will apply the Convention only to : (i) recognition and enforcement of awards made in the territory of another Contracting State; and (ii) differences arising out of legal relationships whether contractual or not which are considered as commercial under the national law of Afghanistan."

Reservation:

"Whereas, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan does not agree with the procedure of referring disputes arising between the Parties to the Convention relating to its interpretation of application, to the International Court of Justice, at the request of any one of the Parties to the dispute, therefore, it does not undertake any commitment regarding ob- servation of article 22 of the present Convention."

Upon signature:

"Afghanistan's understanding of article 62 (fundamental change of circumstances) is as follows:
"Sub-paragraph 2 (a) of this article does not cover unequal and illegal treaties, or any treaties which were contrary to the principle of self-determination. This view was also supported by the Expert Consultant in his statement of 11 May 1968 in the Committee of the Whole and on 14 May 1969 (doc. A/CONF.39/L.40) to the Conference."